7 Ways to Prevent Alzheimer’s?

An important new study found that these behaviors or conditions connect with these percentages of Alzheimer’s cases.

Physical Inactivity 21%

Depression 15%

Smoking 11%

Hypertension 8%

Obesity 7%

Low Education 7%

Diabetes 3%

The good news is that these risks can all be treated. However, what’s unclear is whether they really contribute to causing Alzheimer’s or merely co-exist. Mathematical models in the study at the University of California, San Francisco revealed the connections in the 5.3 million cases in the U.S. The National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) did separate studies. They saw moderate evidence that menopause therapy with estrogens and progesterones as well as the gene ApoE4 may increase risk.However, mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to Alzheimer’s, is more common in older men than older women according to a report issued by the National Institute on Aging, Sept 2010.However N.I.H. did find that there is no evidence “of even moderate scientific quality” that shows that the following items reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Nutritional Supplements

Herbal Preparations

Dietary factors

Prescription or nonprescription drugs

Social or economic factors

Medical Conditions

Toxins or Environmental Exposures

The strongest evidence in their research: The herb ginkgo biloba does not prevent Alzheimer’s. The study was published in the November 19, 2008, Journal of the American Medical Association. Moderate evidence showed that neither Vitamin E or cholinesterase inhibitors decrease the risk.

Since controlled studies, the gold standard of medical research, haven’t been done, it’s not possible to be definitive. Randomized controlled group studies will be very lengthy, expensive and difficult. On the other hand, as researches point out, changing the possible risk factors would likely improve your life in any case and help to prevent other diseases such as cancer and heart disease.